Twelve employees of the Radboud University Medical Center (Radboudumc) must undergo a six-week preventive quarantine. This decision was made after mistakes occurred during the collection and processing of blood and urine samples from a patient admitted on Thursday who was infected with the hantavirus.

Upon the admission of a hantavirus patient from the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius, blood samples were taken. According to the hospital, these samples were processed using the standard procedure. “Given the nature of the virus, this blood should have been processed under a stricter protocol,” the hospital said in a statement.

The Radboudumc also stated that the most up-to-date international guidelines were not followed when disposing of the patient’s urine last Saturday. Due to these circumstances, it was decided that twelve employees must undergo a six-week preventive quarantine.

“Although the chance of an actual infection is very small, these measures have a major impact on everyone involved. We regret that this happened in our university medical center. We will carefully investigate the incident to learn from it and prevent it from happening again in the future,” said Bertine Lahuis, chair of the Radboudumc board, in the online statement.

Risk of infection

Earlier, infectious disease specialist Chantal Rovers (Professor of Infectious Disease Outbreaks) at Radboudumc told Vox that the risk of infection while caring for a hantavirus patient is virtually nonexistent, provided that staff strictly follow the protocols.

“If they follow the established procedures, there is no risk of transmission. And there is absolutely zero risk of transmission to healthcare workers who do not enter the patient’s room or handle the patient’s materials. Nor is there any risk for visitors, other patients in our hospital, or even patients situated in the same ward.”

Following international consultations, it was decided last week that this hantavirus patient did not need to be treated in the high-level isolation unit, but could instead receive care in a regular hospital ward or ICU if necessary, Rovers explained.

“Of course, this would still be in a special isolation room where air circulation and air extraction are properly managed. It would involve a strict isolation protocol that our nurses and doctors are already familiar with, along with some additional precautionary measures.”

Hospital chair Lahuis stated that the employees now required to quarantine will receive all the support they need. “Meanwhile, our medical center remains prepared to receive any new patients if necessary.”

Three infected crew members from the cruise ship have since died.